First Start (or lack thereof) issues

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Map63Vette

Map63Vette

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So I finally got the 5.7 all in and ready to start trying to get it running, but I ran into some issues tonight when I was first cranking it over. I filled the oil pump from the external fitting and rotated the engine backwards as suggested elsewhere in these forums, and it pulled the oil down the tube fine, but when I went to crank the engine over I'm still not getting any oil pressure. I have a mechanical gauge hooked up and an idiot light and I'm not even getting the light to go off. Secondly, I'm going with a carb setup and an MSD box to control the timing, but I don't think I'm getting any spark. The engine doesn't even really sound like it's trying. Is there any easy way to verify spark on the 06 style coils? I watched the MSD program while cranking and nothing seems to be changing. I don't see any RPM and the only thing it ever said was a "Cam Sensor Error". It only threw the error twice in probably 5 times worth of cranking though, so I didn't know if this was just a hiccup that happened during cranking or the main issue. I plan to try a new cam sensor tomorrow to see, but pending that, anyone have any ideas or suggestions as to what might be the problem? The oil pressure thing really bothers me, but I was hoping with enough RPM it might prime since cranking doesn't seem to be enough.
 
I don't have a lot to add but I can add this little bit....

Have you checked to see if you are getting power to the coils when the ignition switch is in the run position? Are you getting power to them in the starting position of the ignition switch? I had that problem with my studebaker. Took a while to figure it out.
 
i would get it to fire and if it doesn't get oil pressure after 3 seconds or so then i would worry...

probably isn't spinning fast enough to suck oil thru... even with "priming" it
 
the cam sensor is needed to fire the coils. I would start there. And check all grounds. I assume your using the msd harness. So I doubt that it's wired incorrectly. It could be a bad sensor if youpull it out plug it back in and touch the sensor end to metal andsee ifyou get power then remove it and you should loose power. It's a magnetic switch. If it does not work replace it and try again.
 
Well, an update for the day. Went out and bought a new cam sensor and got the rest of the car fully wired. Found out that one of the problems I was having is that I don't have a constant switch 12v under the hood. I was pulling off of one of the old ignition wires and it was dropping voltage on crank. Patched in a cranking 12v as well to see if that would fix the problem, but no go. Finally just gave up and straight wired the box to the battery and still can't get anything out of it. I am at least getting oil pressure on cranking, but there is zero spark coming out. Pulled a coil and grounded the plugs and watched them on crank and got nothing. Any ideas? I'm not sure what else I can test at this point. I'll probably just call MSD in the morning, but I'd really like to try to get the thing running today.

On a side note, does anyone if there is a wire under the hood that is constant switch 12v and doesn't loose power on cranking?
 
Sorry, also forgot to mention that I did try checking power to the coils, and they seemed to be getting it fine. The box either just isn't reading the sensors or something else is up with it.
 
jedrattle said:
I don't have a lot to add but I can add this little bit....

Have you checked to see if you are getting power to the coils when the ignition switch is in the run position? Are you getting power to them in the starting position of the ignition switch? I had that problem with my studebaker. Took a while to figure it out.
Click to expand...

What did you end up doing to fix it? Now that I think about it I wasn't checking the coil power on crank, just on key on.
 
Nevermind, finally got it. Turns out there were two wires that had started pulling out of the harness at the big computer connector. Went to check the cam sensor wires to make sure I was getting 5v and ground and the ground wasn't working. Checked it back against the pin at the computer and saw the wire was pulling out of the connector. There was a coil wire that was starting to pull out too. Got them both plugged in and it fired right up like it was supposed to the first time, lol.
 
Congrats!

Little stuff like that will make me want to set things on fire!! lol On my Studebaker is was because I was using a cheap wiring harness kit and trying to use a GM tilt column and a mopar ignition system together. I took some time but I eventually got it to work. Once I got it running it would shut down and then not start for 30-40 minutes for no real reason. A year of fighting with it and I finally figure out that I had wired the ignition wrong and causing a back feed and it would overheat the ballast resistor. Wiring...Oh joy!! lol
 
Congratulations! Glad you got 'er up and running.

What intake did you end up using?

Looking forward to some pics.... :)
 
I just started reading this tonight. Sorry that you has so much troubble!!! I wired the running and cranking wires from the balast resistor together and ran them to a 30 amp lighting relay. Full 12 volts is very important so I ran a hot wire from the battery to the relay and the wired the relay to the msd. Works fine for me.
 
Congrats!

I just love the excitement of getting an engine running for the first time.
 
Yeah, I just tied the cranking and running sides of the old ballast resistor wires together for now. Was thinking about a relay, but just haven't gotten around to it yet. I may try to toss up a new thread with pics of the install.
 
I didn't, I just meant the wires going to it. I looked over the wiring diagram and saw that it was about the only switch 12v under the hood and didn't want to run an old wire. The resistor isn't there anymore, just the wires.
 
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